Automatic cash-carrier



(No Model.)

w. s. LAMSON. Automatic Cash Garrier.

No 243,45. Patented 'June 28, 1881.

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEo YVILLIAM S. LAMSON, OF LOYVELL,MASSAOHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC' CASH-CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION formng part of Letters Patent No. 243,451, dated June 28,1881.

Application filed February 14, 1881. (No model.) I

T 0 all 'whom 'it may concrn Be it known that I, WILLLAM S. LAMSON, ofLowell, in the County ot' Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic CashCarriers, of' which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in means for lessening the noise of the carrierstraveling on their ways; also, in means for preventing the carriers fromleaving their ways; also, in means for elevating' the carriers to theways and discharging said carriers from said elevator upon said ways;also, in means for opening and closing said carriers; also, in means forrctaining in the center of said carriers money or other articles placedwithin them.

In the accompanying drawings, Figu'e 1 is a viewof one side of theinterior of a store with cashier s desk, counter, ways, and elevators.Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of an elevator and its box or shaft. Fig. 3is an enlarged end View ofa treadle and pulleys, such as are shown inFig. 1. rier. Figs. 5 and 7 are vertical sections of the hemispheres,respectively at right angles to the plane of opening. Figs. 6 and 8 areplans ot' the hemispheres respectively. Fig. 9 is a cross-section of oneof the ways with a carrier resting upon such way.

j a e ashier s desk, and B is a counter.

From said desh A run as manyinclined ways C or-C as there are Stationsfor salesmen at the counter B, the upper ends of the ways being at thedesk, and the lower end of each wayending at a salesman s station, X orX'. A single way, D, leading fromthe farther end of the counter orstore, inclines downward toward and leads into the desk A. The amount ofinoline is such as to cause the spherical carriers described below toroll when placed on either of said ways C, C', or D. A cross-section ofeither of said ways is shown in Fig. 9, and is seen to be provided witha groove, E E, along which are inserted strips F, of leather, rubber, orother similarly elastic material, leather being preferred. These stripsF deaden the noise made by the rollin g of the'carriers on the ways. Aguard on each side of the groove, and consisting of posts G, of wire,and a wire, H, strung through holes in said posts G, prevents thecarriers from jumpin g the ways.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the car- In order that the ways O O' nay beinclined, it is desirable that the cashier s desk should be somewhatelevated above the Stations ot' the salesmen. This requires the end ot'the way D farthest from the cashier's desk to be some ways above thereach of the salesmen, in order to get a sufficient incline to roll thecarriers into the cashier s desk where the store is a long one.Accordingly, at each station X, or at such stations as may benecessary,I erect a vertical sha-ft or box, I, in which I place an clevator, L,the same being the top, one side, and bottom of a box--or, in otherwords, a box with three sides removed. This elevator just fits the shaftI, and its bottom is made slan ting, as shown, so thatifa carrier ofspherical form be placed in the elevator through the opening K in theshaft I, and the elevator be raised until the bottom of the same reachesthe bottom of the opening J in said shaft I, the carrier will roll outinto the way D and along said way D to the cashier s desk. The opening Jis on the side of the shaft next the lowest edge of the bottom of theelevator in all cases, of course, and the opening K is on the side oftheshaft nextto the side, in the last shaft, and on the same side in theothers, in which the opening` J is made. Aiwcight, Q, causes theelevator to fall, and the elevator is raised by a cord, O, passing overa pulley, N, in the side of the shaft I, the cord being pulled bypassing the hand into the ring P; or the ele- Vator may be raised bypressing the foot upon the treadle T, the cord 0 passing over the pulleyN, as above described, and also through the pulley-block S, secured tothe under side of the counter B, and through the movable pulley-block S'attached to the treadle T. The treadle T is secured by a hin ge at oneend to the floor of the store, and the number of movable pulleysin theblock .S is such that depressing the lever or treadleT is sufficient toraise the elevator the required distance. Stops 3 3 are provided, whichlimit the distance traversed by the elevator. These stops consist ofcle'ats secured to the inner side of the shaft I.

The carrier used consist-s ot' a hollow sphere,

M M', one half or hemisphereM being provided with two grooves, U`U", atright angles to and leading into an internal annular groove, U, thelatter groove, U, being parallel to the plane which separates thehemispheres, and

the other hemisphere, h being provided with a hollow cylindrical part,Z, which stands at right angles to said plane and has on its outersurface two ears, U' U', at diametrically opposite points. Thecylindrical part Z of the hemisphere M' enters a cylindrical opening, V,in the otherhemisphere, M, the ears U' U' entering the grooves U" U"until the flat surfaces of the hemispheres, respectively, touch eachother, at which time the ears U' U' are in the groove U, and thehemispheres, being turned slightly on each other, are securely lockedtogether, and may, with their contents, be rolled over the way D to thecashier, or from the cashier to the salesman over the way G or C Thehemispheres, being turned on each other until the ears U' U' enter thegrooves U" U", may he separated and the box M M' emptied. In order thatthe center of gravity of the spherical box M M' and its contents may beas near the geometrical center ot' said box as possible, each hemisphereM M' is provided with a disk or follower, W W", supported upon a spring,V' V, one end of which spring is secured to the hemisphere at Y. Thesedisks are small enough to enter freely the hollow of the cylindricalpart Z ot' the hemisphere M', and when brought together hold anythingplaced between them (or rather on the outer face of either' one of them)in the center of the carrier. In order that the disks may have a firmerhold on the contents of the box, the disks are cushioned withwash-leather W W' or other suitable elastic material. The necessity ot'keeping the contents of the carrier at or near its center, in order thatit may roll freely, is evident froni the fact that a large proportion ofits contents will be specie, while the ball is made of Wood, hardrubber, or other comparatively light material.

1 claim as my invention 1. The combination of the way C, C', or D andstrips of elastic material F, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The conbination, with the way O, C', or D, provided with grooves E E,of strips of elastic material F, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The conbination, with the way G, C', or D, provided with groovesEE,of strips of leather F, as and for the purpose specified.

4. In combination with the way C, G', or D, the guards Gr H, as and forthe purpose specified.

5. The comhination of the way D and the elevator L, provided with aslopin g bottom, as and for the purpose specified.

G. The conbination of the inclied way' D, and the elevator L, providedwith a sloping bottom, and means for raising said elevator L, as and forthe purpose specified.

7. The carrier consisting of henispheres M M', one of saidhemispheres,M, being provided with grooves U U" U", and the other, M',being provided with the central hollow projection Z, and the ears U' U',as and for the purpose specified.

S. The conbination of the in terlocking hemispheres M M', the springs V'V", and the disks W XV", as and for the purpose specified.

WILLIAM S. LAMSON.

\Vitnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, H. P. YOUNG.

